Wilmington, NC News

Archive for January, 2012

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A Wilmington couple is fighting for the worth of their dog that died in 2007. State officials say the pet is worth the cost of replacing it. The couple says their dog Lacie, was much more than a piece of property.

They called Lacie their baby girl. Herb and Nancy Shera’s Jack Russell terrier was part of their family. In 2007 Lacie died after veterinarians at NC State inserted a feeding tube in her trachea instead of her esophagus.

Since then the couple has been fighting a battle with the state, which says Lacie is only worth $350, which is the cost of replacing her. The Sheras’ attorney argues they are entitled to more than $28,000, which was the cost of Lacie’s cancer treatments at NC State.

The Sheras believe the law is outdated and hope what they’re doing will help to change it.

“This is not about money,” Nancy Shera said. “This is about justice for Lacie, awareness and hopefully to change the law so that no other family or pet has to go through this.”

The Sheras’ case made it to the state Court of Appeals yesterday, but a decision is not expected for a couple of months.

CHAPEL HILL, NC (RALEIGH NEWS & OBSERVER) — Stilman White spent nearly half of his childhood growing up in Wilmington, but he was never much of a Tar Heels basketball fan.

Instead, the Hoggard High School graduate pulled for a couple of lesser-known schools out west – schools he thought he might attend before North Carolina came in with a late scholarship offer about a year ago.

“I was kind of a big-school hater, you know,” White said Tuesday. “I was always pulling for Utah or BYU – the kind of mid-major schools.”

Perhaps it’s fitting that White rooted for the underdogs. It’s a role he’s adopting now, as North Carolina’s backup point guard.

RALEIGH, NC (NEWS RELEASE FROM GOV. PERDUE’S OFFICE) — Mayors from across North Carolina, including Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo and Wrightsville Beach Mayor David Cignotti, who every day see in their schools the damage from the General Assembly’s education cuts, have issued an open letter asking the people of North Carolina to support Gov. Perdue’s plan to reverse the deep and unnecessary cuts the Republican-controlled General Assembly imposed on our schools.

The 53 mayors, from cities such as Durham to towns such as Bear Grass and Pilot Mountain, support the Governor’s proposal to temporarily restore a fraction of a penny that the General Assembly let expire and to devote all of that revenue to education – a fraction of a penny for progress.

“The legislature’s budget has hurt education at all levels – from pre-k all the way through higher education – and has led to higher class sizes and the loss of teacher and teaching assistant positions right here in our local schools,” the mayors wrote. “With their budget forcing even more teacher layoffs next year, we must act to prevent these additional cuts.”

The mayors echoed the Governor’s message that education is critical to our children’s future and to the economic future of the state.

“Investing in education is central to our ability to attract new jobs and businesses to our state,” the mayors wrote. “When companies talk about moving here or expanding, their first question is whether we have the educated, skilled workforce they need.”